![]() ![]() They approached consumers without the potentially preachy, hackneyed language of wellness, performance and aspiration that have become standard in the category. They launched with the tagline “murder your thirst” and employed visual imagery that would be more commonly associated with 1980s heavy metal album covers than bottled water. Deeming other water brands “not metal enough,” Liquid Death sought to address dejected, rebellious rock fans with a love for everything metal. To start, Liquid Death focused on a consumer tribe who had largely been ignored in the category. So, what has the brand done to capitalize on this investment? To date, Liquid Death has raised over $34 million in funding – the latest round of which included Conviavialité Ventures, Pernot Ricard Group’s venture arm. The aggressive, disruptive tone made the video go viral, and so the brand was born. The brand first caught media attention back in 2017, when founder Mike Cessario created an advertising video before he even had a product. ![]() The Los Angeles-based brand offers mountain water from the Austrian alps in 16.9oz tallboy cans that promise to “murder your thirst.” It’s a bold stance in a heavily commoditized category that has anchored itself into narratives around self-care and sports performance for years. So what does it take for today’s brands to win over people’s hearts and minds? The water brand Liquid Death proves to be a compelling case study. So, what can brand deniers and traditionalists agree on? The shopping landscape we’re currently navigating is unlike any we’ve experienced before, and with savvy consumers who can easily detect an inauthentic sales pitch, marketers are the ones who need to re-wire their thinking. As a result, marketers can’t continually resort to same approaches and expect consumers to engage every time. As humans, our emotional responses are constantly being re-written and re-wired. That said, engaging consumers’ emotional in the ways we always have won’t work either. While brand deniers are certainly right that big data has changed the way we shop, they neglect to admit that humans aren’t machines and that consumers’ behavior will never be 100% rational. On the other side are those I call “brand traditionalists.” They have largely dismissed changes in consumer behavior as minor shakeups rather than major disruptions and believe the same marketing rules and process and ways of doing business that have always applied should remain largely unchanged.Ī more moderate observer would tell you both points of view have merit, but also largely miss the mark. On the one side there are “brand deniers.” They believe the age of big brands is essentially over as unemotional cost-benefit analyses have taken over, aided by instant online product reviews, search engine bargain hunting, and increased openness to private labels across categories and consumer groups. When it comes to branding, it’s easy to find yourself stuck between two different mindsets.
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